Public Sector Interview Questions & Answers

I was interviewed by two ladies. Both within the industry, but not specific within the role I was applying for.
Questions about me and what I've done (great opportunity to fill in some points about how your skills match up to skills relevant/needed for the role)
Usual competency based questions were included - example of team work, time you demonstrated leadership, How do you manage your time well?
General questions about role - Why Network Rail, What interests you about the project management scheme, how will you cope with the University course in the first year?

Interview lasted around 40 minutes.

Very comfortable interview. The questions didn't try and catch you out - they tried to make you feel comfortable and if you looked stuck on a question/didn't answer question fully, they asked a follow up question to get the points out.

Industry based questions - can't remember them all - I checked after and they were general Project management jobs - such as describing risk management. Put me on the spot as I wasn't expecting that at all.

Be prepared. Prepare knowledge of what challenges the company may be facing, on the projects they are currently working on.

For assessment day - read the finance section of a finance section on an a-level revision website (basic understanding will help you)
Fell confident during it - it isn't as intense and scary as it may seem, everyone is very friendly. You also get a great lunch at the staff canteen!

Assessment centre was based in Warwick.

It consisted of:
one to one interview
group exercise
presentation exercise


Presentation exercise - I would recommend brushing up on knowledge of break even/ revenue/ profit/ loss - as you will need to work out lots of data and compare.
- It is a fun exercise - important to read through all documents first, to ensure you get an overall understanding of all the information (this will make more sense once you're there)

After getting through the online application process, you will be invited to their assessment centre. It is a full day assessment centre which involves three main tasks: one-to-one interview with a TeachFirst staff/ambassador; group case study and; presentation of your chosen lesson title. The first of these is usually the one-to-one interview where you will be given a series of competency questions from their lists of competencies:
Humility, respect and empathy (HRE)
Knowledge
Resilience
Leadership
Planning and organising
Interaction
Problem solving
Self-evaluation

The interview is relatively straightforward if you have prepared a couple of different examples for each competency. The assessor was patient and very friendly. The great thing about the TeachFirst interview is that they give you a chance to come back to questions if you don't feel confident with it at the time, this gives you a chance to think about it whilst going through other questions. The questions themselves are predetermined and goes through each competency so it is very important that you have prepared these. However, they have no access to your online application so you can use your answers which you provided on there. I would say that this part of the interview was the easiest for me as I prepared thoroughly.

1) Please give an example of a situation that you have created which was leading to, or resulted in a negative outcome. Explain how the measures you put in place helped to improve the situation.

2) Please give an example of the time when you had a positive influence on someone.

My best advice would be to go through each competencies and list different examples for each one as well as finding ways to incorporate those competencies in the group task and lesson plan. Also, during the day it is vital that you just relax, be yourself and have fun.
Lastly, the best thing you can do to be successful at this assessment centre is PREPARE, PREPARE AND PREPARE!

The assessment centre is relaxed and very informative. There were about 15 of us at the time and we were given breaks in between the different tasks. This gave us time to talk amongst ourselves as well as do some last minute preparation. We were given detailed instruction in the morning of what we were required to do during our time there. It was really well organised and everything ran smoothly. The staff there were very helpful and it felt that they wanted us to do the best we can. The atmosphere didn't feel at all tense.

After you've done your one-to-one interview, you are then assigned to a group of maybe 4-7 people depending on the number of the participants during the day. The group tasks involves discussing different solutions to a problem and deciding on an answer as a group. You are given a few minutes to read over an information pack. The best way to get through this is by making quality contributions as well as involving other participants into the conversation. Do not take over the whole discussion or interrupt other participants whilst they are speaking.

The last task of the day is the lesson preparation. A week or two before your assessment centre you are given a choice of lesson titles and out of these you must prepare 1 lesson which you will present to two adult assessors (acting like kids) for exactly 7 minutes. It's really important that this lesson is both creative and engaging. You must also be able to control the situation when it comes to bad behaviour or lack of attention. However, this certainly was the most fun part of the day!

Overall, TeachFirst is looking for someone that match their criteria so just make sure you know and apply the list of competencies throughout the selection process. You will also be given self evaluation forms which is crucial to identifying your strength and weaknesses. My advice is just to make the most out of the day and be yourself!

The graduate scheme did not require an interview initally. It began with an application followed by online tests. I was then called into the London office to do some tests at an assessment centre. That was followed by a days worth of assessments which included an over night stay. The tests included group work and individual.

Analysis of data sheets. I misinterpreted the information as i was under pressure

Read the questions given, don't lose concentration in nerves

My overall experience was good. We were given dinner the night before in which we got to know other members of the group. This helped us familiarize ourselfs with eachother so the group work went a little smoother the following day

It was a panel interview with senior members of staff from a variety of departments. They launched straight into typical competency questions, without any informal chat to start. The interview lasted around 10 minutes.

What is your proudest achievement?

What are your three most valuable attributes?

Research the organisation and learn about an area of their work you are interested in, as well as some key facts and figures to show you've done your research.

First we were each given half an hour to prepare a 10-15 minute presentation on the same topic that we had previously completed a written assessment about. We were then split into groups of 6 and were made to do a group exercise where we roleplayed a meeting aimed at cutting a certain figure of a public service spending, each representing different departments.

The video interview took place after successful online tests. The interview was based around the civil service key competencies asking for evidence of leadership, collaborating and partnering, innovation, diversity and working under pressure. 8 questions asked from a pre recorded video and then was given 2 minutes to answer each immediately after. This process was nerve wracking initially but the interview was set up well to ease you into it and feel as comfortable. This allowed me to give accurate answers detailing my experience to the best of my ability.

To what extent are you effective at adapting to changing circumstances? And what evidence do you have?

Take your time and try not to concentrate on what anybody else is doing. You are put in a room with 40 other candidates all typing at the same time and can be quite off putting. Try to zone out and concentrate on what you are doing. Also have strict time management. The day is designed to pressure you so try to not think about the last exercise of it went worse than expected.

The assessment centres are held in both London and Newcastle. Mine was held in London and was given expenses for traveling and staying over the night before. The centre itself was a half day event held in parliament street and consisted of 3 separate tasks. The first was an hour and a half report writing test in which I was given detailed proposals for 2 new government schemes. From this information I had to create a report and a data sheet detailing my advice on the pros and cons of each proposal and my concerns and recommendations. The second task was a group task where we were all given information on 6 different schemes and told separe tasks to argue for. After this we attended a 40 minutes meeting with other candidates and had to decide together which 2 would be implimented. The final task was a leadership expercise/ role play where I had to present for ten minutes to my "senior manager" my plans for taking over a new team and project. This was followed by 30 minutes of questioning and a self assessment.

My one to one interview went really well. It felt quiet informal and mainly centred around my motives and ambitions, and I was asked a lot about my personal experiences that had led to me wanting to train as a Mental Health Social Worker. I had to discuss why I felt Mental Health is an important area of health and social care, and then it was very clear to me that they expected us to ask questions ourselves at the end so it was lucky I had prepared for this and had a few questions ready to spark some discussion at the end of the interview.

"Should a service user be able to chose who their social worker is?"

Make sure you've got some relevant work experience before you apply as much of the activities you do will be centred around how you would handle tough situations which you only learn to do by having that background knowledge. Prepare a list of questions you want to ask and really research the area so you have examples and statistics to draw upon when you're in the group discussion and so on.

The assessment centre day consisted of each of us being give a personal timetable of the day's activities. The first thing was a 1-2-1 interview discussing my motives for applying and my career goals. This was followed by a role play where an actor played the role of a service user and I played the role of the social worker. She played the role of an alcoholic woman who had Bipolar and had had her daughter removed from the family home and I had to try and get her to engage with me despite her hostility and mania. After the role play I went to a reflection room with an assessor to discuss what I had done right and what I could improve on. There was then a written task where you were given a scenario to read and have to answer exam-style questions in the allotted time highlighting key points and actions that could be taken to resolve the scenario. We then had a group debate based on different case studies, and then went off in pairs to be simultaneously interviewed by a service user.

The telephone interview was a relatively straightforward one. It was competency based with many questions probing your previous experiences. Relating to your communication, team work skills. questions ask where what do you understand of the job? Why do you want the job? Tell us about a time you worked with a diverse group of people with conflicting views.

Tell us about a time when you had to resolve a conflict what was the outcome and what was your role in that.

I didn't get the job, i'm not sure what they required. However, the assessment center was really well set up, everyone was very friendly and helpful. Prepare as much as possible. for the role play and written test.

The Assessment center interview was much harder with questions relating to your 10 year plan, what you were doing presently to work towards your ten year plan?
The assessment center was difficult as it was hard to understand what was really required of you and what was being assessed during the role-play and written exercise.

The interview starts off with why you want to work for the IPCC, and then there are questions about what you know about the company and its aims - so it is good to do your research. You are also asked questions about what kind of things you expect the role to incorporate, and about your experiences working with people of different backgrounds. You are also asked about examples of problems with communication in your life. BEWARE: They want very specific examples so make sure you have some case studies ready.

Can you tell me about a time when you have learnt something new and then been asked to apply it in your work?

Overall, the interviewer was friendly and helpful - but there are times when she was writing notes and so you feel as if you're talking to yourself. Also, be prepared for them to stop you in the middle of an answer in order to get a concise answer from you if you are going off topic.

Also, the whole process - from applying to being rejected - was just over two months. The next stage of the process was to be an assessment centre, in Quinton, Birmingham, I believe.

You are given a pin number in the invitation email, which is then used when you call the given number on the day of your interview. After a quick identification check you are put through to your interviewer who explains the process. Subsequently, she said that she did not have the information to answer many of my questions about the role, so I imagine that the interviewers are outsourced and not directly employed by the IPCC.

Arrived at main entrance and after a short wait I was greeted by a home office employee and taken upstairs to an interview room. After they sorted some paperwork I was called in to face a panel of two. They were competency based questions and were quite similar to those I had answered in the initial online application. They asked around the civil service competency framework and asked for examples of how I have shown to have a particular quality.

How would I use my skills and experience of customer service in this role. I found this incredibly difficult to answer as the job I applied for was administration based and mostly individual work with very little contact with other parties. I felt that this question was quite irrelevant to the job I was applying for.

Don't be disheartened if you are not selected for interview the first time. Myself and my friends have all applied for jobs here and those who were overqualified didn't get a chance at interview. The initial selection process - I believe - is just luck of the draw. They focus so much on buzzwords also, so read up on those.

There was no assessment centre for this role.

After applying online I completed several psychometric tests, including verbal and numeracy. Following this I completed an E-tray exercise where you given a fake email account and answer emails based on a fictitious scenario.

If you are successful you are invited to attend the assessment day.

Arrived at 7.30am to the Assessment Centre in London. There were around 30 of us being assessed that day.

A series of different assessments judged by a variety of assessors.

It lasted till about 4-5pm depending on the timetable you were given.

You must have examples to prove you fulfil their competencies. When they interview you they have a check box based on how you demonstrate you fulfil the competencies - make sure you have LOTS of examples.

You MUST learn the competencies that they assess you by! Memorise each one, and develop strong arguments/evidence as to how to fulfil each one. It is the ONLY thing they assess you on. No points for personality if you don't fulfil the competency criteria.

Time management - you will be given a LOT of information to read in the exercises. Think carefully about how you read and select data.

Try and find someone who has done the assessment day already, ask them about the feedback they received and what they learnt.

We were divided into groups of 6 and then given timetables for our day. It comprised of:

- one group exercise - given limited time to read a booklet of information on different policies and your 'views' on them, which ones your supported and didn't support. Then sent into room with your group to argue why your policy was best and come to unanimous conclusion. Assessed by 3 diff people.

- leadership exercise - given scenario as a manager, given limited time to read information. Then had to present to an assessor, answer qu's.

- written policy exercise - 2 hours

- interview

Throughout the day we have to do our own self assessments on how we feel we did in each exercise.